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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25697842">Liar</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kagezai/pseuds/kagezai'>kagezai</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>soulmate au/s/ [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Hurt Kageyama Tobio, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Oikawa Tooru-centric, POV Oikawa Tooru, Soulmates, all set before they went to Karasuno &amp; aoba, oikawa is absolutely horrible at understanding his feelings, there are some minor and significant changes but yh same plot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:01:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,938</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25697842</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kagezai/pseuds/kagezai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>soulmate au: everytime your soulmate lies, their words are written on you.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>soulmate au/s/ [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888081</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>415</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Liar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>sorry if there's any grammar mistakes :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The words had first started appearing on his skin when he was around five years old, just barely able to read.</p><p>At first, the words imprinted in swirls of printed black that would only last 24 hours before beginning to slowly fade were simple and expected.</p><p>
  <em>No, Oneechan! I didn’t eat those sweets!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It wasn’t me! Promise!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>No one told me! That was Oneechan’s fault!</em>
</p><p>No one thought anything of it. After all, they were just harmless lies that young children often told to get out of trouble. Tooru wasn’t any different, also defending himself in a child like manner whenever he was accused of something that he most definitely did. Though, he feared his soulmate wound up with far more words tattooed on their skin than him due to his habit of lying his way out of everything, and most of the time he was very convincing even despite his age so he never really worried about the consequences. He hadn’t met his soulmate yet so no one could distinguish between whether or not what he was saying was actually the truth. Tooru liked it that way.</p><p>However, as both of them grew up, his soulmate’s lies became more frequent and complicated. Well, to Tooru at least who would spend countless nights staring at the words carved just above his wrist and ponder endlessly about what they could mean.</p><p>
  <em>I’m fine. Nothing happened.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I tripped and fell when I was walking back.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’m okay.</em>
</p><p>He didn’t want to admit to himself and voice the dangerous places his mind lurked to.</p>
<hr/><p>The 13 year old glared at the ink that swam in his vision. It felt like his skin was on fire wherever the strokes would appear, Tooru continuously gazing at them helplessly with a dark pit of fear settling in his stomach; chills that uncomfortably contrasted the heat running down his spine.</p><p>Tooru wouldn’t be caught dead wearing anything but long sleeved shirts or jumpers, occasionally a hoodie. He didn’t want the world to see what was engraved onto him like a curse. It seemed like there were new lies every day because the marks wouldn’t fade; just bolder, more prominent words overlapping the old. Thankfully, his parents didn’t question anything, perhaps having already vaguely figured out the reason why. It sure seemed like everyone else had, with their lingering stares and pitiful glances. Sure, lying wasn’t the worst possible thing in the world, but people still, somewhat oddly, wore their soulmarks with pride. But most of those people had already met their soulmate and weren’t in his shoes. Didn’t have to wake up every morning to new strokes of black. To more words. To more lies that mocked how powerless he was.</p><p>The only thing that allowed him to take his mind off of it was: <em>volleyball</em>.</p><p>He had tight, wide wristbands that covered the length around his wrist and a patch of his forearm where they slightly extended. And when he stepped onto the court, volleyball twisting between his fingers, it yanked him out of his thoughts and the only thing that invaded his mind was the toss, the sensation of his feet bouncing against the floor when he sprinted, and the slight strain of his calf muscles as he let himself defy gravity for just a second, a second where he was airborne with his hand cutting across the air to collide his outstretched palm with hard leather. And then he would see the ball soar over the net, both of them coming back down to earth.</p><p>
  <em>Volleyball was a perfect distraction.</em>
</p><p>The sport didn’t lie. The rules were laid out and there were no ifs or buts, no way to lie yourself out. The ball couldn’t touch the ground. A simple, clear rule that no one could bypass and that always had a consequence; the sacrifice of a fatal point.</p><p>Tooru had lied his whole life but he could not lie in volleyball. And that was one of the reasons he loved every aspect of it and had to be the absolute best. All the hours and hours of hard work put into perfecting and honing his skill, of pushing himself beyond and beyond and then even further. Everything he did was the truth. He had worked for everything with his whole being. But when he gazed up defeatingly at the harsh and cold expression on Shiratorizawa’s ace, <em>Ushiwaka’s</em>, disgusting face, a pest who had everything handed to him by the universe, he couldn’t help but feel that he was cheating and lying.</p><p>
  <em>I did what you couldn’t. I was born with everything already given to me. You were born with nothing. And you thought you could beat me?</em>
</p><p>All his inner turmoil, unyielding anger and frustration that bottled up in his chest was sure to overflow someday. One day the constant cycle of failure stacked upon another failure and the feeling of being totally useless met with etched ink would tip him over the edge.</p><p>And then one day, it did.</p>
<hr/><p>His third year of middle school.</p><p>Tooru had committed the string of excuses to memory. The unspoken lie that replayed in the depths of his mind. A lie that crushed his lungs heavier than any other. A lie that only he knew. <em>Unspoken</em>. <em>Almost</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Kageyama Tobio.</em>
</p><p>Tooru couldn’t ignore the way something in his chest constricted viciously when the young first year first made his way into the gym, adorning the same dark blue jersey as him, breathtakingly complimenting his eyes of similar colour. So wide and searching, yet something hidden in their depths shook, like a ship crashing against the rocks during a storm. The boy was in the room yet he felt so far out of reach, distant and unattainable.</p><p>There was something that he couldn’t quite place luring him towards Kageyama despite all that. An invisible hand coaxing him to get closer. The ringing in his ears, choked throat and rapid heartbeat were all new foreign sensations to Tooru, someone who was usually so composed and controlled in front of others. But with just his presence alone, the younger boy had completely tore him apart to shreds.</p><p>Kageyama’s hands were behind his back, frame slightly hunched and knees ever so lightly bent. And when their gazes finally met, it was like Tooru’s entire world before had just been a black and white landscape.</p><p>Everything seemed so much brighter and strikingly vibrant; burning his eyes, burning the skin underneath his wristbands. Set his world aflame with colour in a sizzling but deliciously painful way.</p><p>So, he ignored it; ignored <em>him</em>, repeating the same lie in his head that sounded less and less believable the more he tried to drill it into his brain.</p>
<hr/><p>Tooru slowly turned to face the boy. The boy, Kageyama Tobio, or how he now called him Tobio-chan, was staring down at him with a look so saccharine and sickly innocent that it was revolting.</p><p>The boy, stupid Tobio, who was exactly like Ushiwaka. <em>A cheater. A liar.</em></p><p>A whirlwind of emotions, hammering against his chest so intensely that catching his breath was proving to be a futile battle, swirled in him the longer his eyes raked the other’s frame.</p><p>Everything Tooru had worked his ass off for years, all his myriad amount of practice and endless effort had once again been rendered worthless. He had observed his kouhai when the team practiced, captivated by the way he so effortlessly and flawlessly set for their teammates in a way that took Tooru months to properly master. The small boy expertlessly handled the ball, almost like the sport was designed for him and for him only. And then when he got benched for the brat…</p><p>Again, the same words that swamped his thoughts when he was defeated by Ushiwaka, chanting like a mantra as if playing on a broken record:</p><p>
  <em>I did what you couldn’t. I was born with everything already given to me. You were born with nothing. And you thought you could beat me?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cheater!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Liar!</em>
</p><p>He thought bitterly that whoever had landed the unfortunate role of being Tobio’s soulmate, would have had their arms littered with black ink if actions could also be engraved as a soulmark.</p><p>And the cherry on top, (besides the fact that the boy had snatched Tooru’s lifeline away from him; his escape from the words cutting into his skin. Now, he was powerless in what was supposed to be the one thing that he had complete control over wholeheartedly; with no tricks, no deceit, something meant to be the one truth in Tooru’s life) was that Kageyama had the audacity to torment him with his mockery of a request.</p><p>
  <em>“Oikawa-san, can you please teach me your serve?”</em>
</p><p>Tooru was panting heavily, everything so bright around Tobio; everything so overwhelming that he felt as if he would lose his balance. He could feel himself sway, beginning to tip over the edge the longer he held eye contact with those shimmering blue eyes, like water reflected by the sun in a peaceful, summer ocean. But, there was no denying that there was an unknown emotion in Kageyama’s eyes that reminded Tooru of vigorous, crashing waves. And there were also slight traces of creases underneath his lower lash line leading towards his temple, possibly where his face had been scrunched up. Anger? Fear? <em>Pain</em>?</p><p>And then everything was moving in slow motion. The way the younger boy’s eyes snapped wide open almost instantly, then suddenly squeezing shut and face pulling tight. The action seemed automatic, as if natural, but Tooru had no time to dwell on it as the next thing he knew he was screaming something as his hand cut through the air with blinding speed, connecting not a second later with skin that felt too soft; skin that made an emotion coil and crawl up his stomach, reminding him of the way his body seemed to break down when he had first encountered the other.</p><p>The words that had tore through his throat, bitter as they rolled of his tongue were:</p><p>
  <em>I hate you.</em>
</p><p>Immediately after his lips closed over the last syllable, Tooru regretted everything. And it caused him to physically stumble, his own pupils blown wide as they mirrored the young boy’s sprawled on the gym floor, mouth agape. An already reddening handmark was blossoming on his cheek and Tooru felt like any moment now he would retch his esophagus out.</p><p>The volleyball that the other had held in between his tiny fingers had slipped out of the boy’s grasp and toppled discarded to the side. The same ball that was shielding Tobio’s wrists.</p><p>Now, with the skin laid barren for the world to see from the awkward landing position of Kageyama’s hand, the swirls of black that had begun embedding themselves there were impossible to miss.</p><p>
  <em>I hate you.</em>
</p><p>Tobio angled his face downwards towards where Tooru’s eyes were latched upon, his whole body pinned in place, blood running cold as he just stared, feeling progressively more empty inside the longer the silence stretched.</p><p>With the force of the impact, his wristband had fallen closer to where his wrist met his palm, revealing a patch of previously covered forearm; with words that had been present there for a while, ones that wouldn’t go away or let him forget; let him keep lying. The lie that had ripped him to pieces and started this mess in the first place, with excuses he had ran out for. The dull stinging was the only thing that reminded Tooru that it was there and real.</p><p>
  <em>I’m not in love with Oikawa-san.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for reading! ^^</p><p>there are parts of this that I like more than others &amp; idk I made a lot of changes while editing so hopefully this end outcome is okay..? its also my first time writing a soulmate au so hopefully this isn't too rough as a first attempt :DD</p></blockquote></div></div>
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